Google Chromecast

When Google announced the Chromecast a few weeks back, I got online and ordered one. It was originally going to be a gift, but after playing with it, I decided to hold onto it. At only $35.00, I’m not out much (gift or otherwise). It’s a pretty nice device. It comes in a nice little slide-out package. The Chromecast device has a little slot while the rest of the goodies (power adapter, USB cable, and HDMI extender cable) sit underneath. The dongle (hee hee) has a standard HDMI connector on one end and a micro USB port for power on the rounded back-end. The TV I plugged it into was a bit older, so I did not have a convenient HDMI port on the side and had to use the extender to plug it in because the angle was too sharp on the port for my TV. I also did not have a USB port on this TV, which could power the device, and had to use the included USB power adapter. Everything plugged into my TV looked a little ugly, but I sure took advantage of all the accessories they included. I have a newer TV in the basement that probably wouldn’t need all the extras.

Once everything was plugged in, I switched the TV input to the correct HDMI port and had a nice screen with a URL to continue setup. I used my phone to hit the URL so it redirected me to the Google Play Store to download the Chromecast app. The app will ask you for an ID displayed on the screen to identify itself, and will then walk you through the rest of the setup. This includes providing it access to your WiFi and giving it a name. Once you’ve done those things, you can start streaming media to the TV.

The streaming interface works great. You simply touch a little Chromecast icon and it throws stuff to your TV from apps that support it. Right now (and this is the only negative at the moment), that’s limited to just a few apps. The list currently includes, Google Play Music and Movies, Netflix, YouTube. There are apparently a few others in the works. The thing that makes it irrelevant is that you can also stream a tab straight from the Google Chrome browser (Mac or Windows). If you install the Chromecast extension you can send just about anything else you need to the TV (Hulu, Amazon, whatever). I’m looking forward to more apps that take advantage of the Chromecast, but so far am very happy with it.